Back to the peaceful Kampala we know

My room mate Frank decided to take the over-night bus from Nairobi to Kampala on Friday night, despite my strong warnings that riots would likely increase into Saturday.  I sent him worried text messages through the night as I was reading accounts of Friday’s violence on Twitter.  I read countless blog post about the unrest between Museveni’s government and the Baganda kingdom, and I finally fell asleep feeling very unsettled by the uncertainty of Frank’s travel.

I woke up at 7:30am to Frank knocking on the door.  When I opened it, I saw him gloating that he had made record time on the road.  The riot police had removed all of the taxi-vans and boda-bodas (taxi-motorcycles) from the roads, and most people decided to stay indoors.  This meant the road into town was free of a traffic jam – truly unprecedented for Kampala.

Rain on Saturday, which accompanied the return to
a peaceful Kampala. (view from my balcony)

Frank’s safe arrival was followed by more signs that the violence had quelled.  By the time it started raining in the afternoon, there had been no reports of riots.  I even heard the familiar thump of neighboring dance clubs that night, signaling a return to the fun-loving Kampala that is so normal.

Monday, I was back at Makerere University and received the letter I was trying to get last Thursday.  On campus, I also bumped into the Fulbright Scholar (a professor from the U.S.) who is teaching Chemistry in Uganda this year.  We had a good lunch and discussed the relevance of Natural Products Chemistry in East Africa.  He was originally set to be teaching in Gulu (Northwestern Uganda), but for various reasons, he will now be at Makerere University, Kampala.  This is good news for me, as it means more tight connections for my Green Chemistry research project here, which will be more of a focus now that the semester has begun.

It was also interesting to reflect on the difference between the experience of being a Fulbright Scholar as a student and as a professor.  I was surprised that I was introducing the professor to matoke (the most popular staple food in Kampala), although he’s had been in Uganda for more than one month.  I learned that he mostly ate his meals at the Sheraton or University Guest House.  Even if his cuisine has been a bit sheltered, I still have to admire the fortitude of a professor in his 60’s deciding to spend a year in Uganda.  As he said, “As an old man, I need to be comfortable after a hard day’s work.”  And this makes me appreciate all the more how my youthful energy only amplifies as I expose myself to more and more aspects of student life in Uganda.